Discovering the World of Warcraft and beyond

Just when we thought it was safe to go about our normal everyday game play – raids, random dungeons, battlegrounds, exploration of a transformed world, questing, dailies, crafting, chasing achievements – Blizzard has released a new catastrophic event upon us all. A few days ago a small blue post announced,“One of Azeroth’s oldest adversaries will soon tear through the Elemental Plane to reforge the world in flame, but this foe won’t be conducting his reign of terror from the confines of a castle or lair. Deathwing is a destructive force the likes of which adventurers have yet to see in World of Warcraft, and his appetite for devastation can only be satisfied by the shattering of the world. Following his explosive escape from Deepholm, Deathwing will cast a deadly shadow over the people of Azeroth as he wreaks indiscriminate havoc across the land.” Over the last few days, sightings and deaths at the fiery breath of Deathwing have indeed been reported.

It seems that murder, chaos and mayhem will be unleashed when we least expect it. With catastrophic suddenness the maddened, corrupted dragon aspect, Deathwing the Destroyer will continue his destructive revenge – sweeping in with ferocious suddenness and reducing all before him – landscape, buildings, mobs, critters, NPCs and players alike to so much dust and ashes. The only warning of impending doom will be a blackened sky with a fiery red glow. Areas will be devastated – though fortunately not irreversibly. (After all, in the world of Azeroth even the worst death and destruction is rarely permanent – mobs respawn, resources nodes reappear, bosses can be defeated countless times and terrors faced and defeated ages ago can return to terrorise again, problems solved reappear, and our toons die countless times with little to show for such harrowing experiences than the time it takes for a graveyard run or maybe a dose of resurrection sickness and some gold to repair broken armor.)

Naturally, the World of Warcraft is no stranger to such world encompassing catastrophic events. It is after all a world born out of the chaos of the “old gods”, a world brought to brink of global destruction by repeated drama and disaster. Invasions by the demonic burning legions and their servants; the arrival of the orc armies through the dark portal; the almost complete shattering of the planet draenor (home to orcs and draeni); repeated attempts of the “old gods” and a couple of corrupted or maddened dragon aspects to bring about chaos, sedition, destruction; and waves of the devastating undead plague have all threatened to overwhelm the inhabitants of Azeroth and to destroy their world beyond reckoning.

The lore of such cataclysmic events draws from myth and legend of our own world. Many ancient societies (e.g. Greek, Hindu, Chinese, Mayan) claimed that our world was formed from chaos and has been subjected to periodic world-remaking disasters. While ancient Hebrew sources declared (in contrast to many of their Middle Eastern and Mediterranean neighbors) that a good, powerful, eternal God created time and space (the cosmos as we know it) de novo, they agreed with their neighbors that this world has experienced global disasters as the result of human and angelic rebellion. These ancient sources all foresee future global catastrophes.

Be that as it may, what the Deathwing event will entail – apart from wholesale regional devastation transcending even the Zombie Plagues – and how long it will be with us is at this point in time difficult to know. The only clear fact is an achievement (under the Cataclysm explorer category) Stood in the Fire which requires being killed by Deathwings fiery breath (though there are reports of this being glitched). Being caught up in what is essentially a random and overwhelming event will normally result in death of even the most seasoned hero within seconds. There is no opportunity to rally a credible defense unlike the Elemental Invasion or the Headless Horseman’s attacks on factional towns in Hallow’s End. There will be nowhere to hide from the attacks- fleeing to the wilderness areas (as my hunter did during the Zombie Plague) will not save you for Deathwing can reach the most remote crannies of the world.

Certainly, the experience will be out of the ordinary and it would seem from the forums that many players are extremely anxious to experience it. The fainthearted, those with tight playing schedules or those who lack an overwhelming death wish may wish to head back to safety of Dalaran or even Shattrath until the attacks cease. On the other hand, it’s is hard to know how long Deathwing will be allowed to roam free, spreading devastation in his wake. And at the moment at least, his attacks are so random and sporadic that many if not most players are yet to become aware that they have begun and getting the achievement may pure luck. But be warned for a fiery death could descend at a moment’s notice. Be prepared.

These are tumultuous times in the WOW universe with dramatic changes happening almost too fast to keep up with. First there came new and expanding quest lines and new boss encounters here today and virtually gone tomorrow. Then the cataclysmic shattering of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor followed, it would seem, by a number of years of rebuilding. In the midst of this time of peril and change, even as the world is remade, the NPCs outside factional cities continue to celebrate the seasonal festival Pilgrim’s Bounty uninterrupted and basically unchanged from when it was introduced last year. (more…)

Just before maintenance on Tuesday, I heard the rumours that something dramatic was about to happen. The portals to the Elemental Lords had been opened “permanently” to allow the last access for a few short hours before everything closed down for extended maintenance. Trade was abuzz with speculation that the shattering was upon us and that portals in Dalaran and Shattrath would be no more. The extended maintenance, which was extended further, eventually drew to a close. As World of Warcraft finally came back on online, I logged in with great impatience and anticipation – not to be disappointed.

The world of Azeroth had been remade in a fiery cataclysm. The elemental invasion was over and Deathwing the Destroyer, leader of the Black Dragonflight had emerged from the elemental plane Deepholm (in which he has been sulking for years on end) and wrecked havoc across the cities and continents of Azeroth. Coastal areas had been hit by huge tsunamis, lakes had been emptied and others formed, cites and town had been devastated and in some cases wiped out completely, volcanos had erupted and dividing chasms had been rent deep into the crust to change the face of the world forever. Since the disaster, many cities and villages have been rebuilt and new ones established, political alliances and influence changed, some areas reclaimed and other lost, new settlements and new alliances established.

So what has changed?

Stormwind Park totally destroyed, the entrance towers scarred, the Stormwind Keep precinct upgraded and a new cemetery and parkland area with fishing pond and farm added north of the Cathedral and Dwarven districts;

Virtually every district in Orgrimmar scarred by inundation, zeppelin towers moved to central roof area accessed by lifts, goblin slums added in Valley of Spirits;

Both Stormwind and Orgrimmar now have 2 banks and 2 auction houses;

New fishing and cooking dailies (available to all levels) in Stormwind and Orgrimmar;

Jewellery trainers in more capitals (Stormwind and Orgrimmar for example);

Flight trainers and flying mount vendors now available in Old Azeroth (e.g. Stormwind for example);

Portals to faction cities in Dalaran and Shattrath removed and replaced with class trainers. Dalaran does still have a portal to Caverns of Time, while Shattrath retains the portal to the Isle of Quel’Danas and there is a portal to Stormwind and Ogrimmar next to the Dark Portal;

Now able to use flying mounts in Dalaran;

Major geographical and political changes to many zones (i.e. splitting of the Barrens into north and south, remodelling of Ashvara including a entrance into the region from a new rear Orgrimmar gate, dividing of Stranglethorn Vale into north and south, new coastal areas in the Blasted Lands, a great chasm between Searing Gorge and Burning Seppes in the south and Dun Morgh and Loch Modan in the north, Southshore fallen to the undead) and at least minor changes to most regions;

For most, it will be fascinating to explore the new face of Azeroth to see what has changed and what has stayed the same, and to enjoy new scenery. It is also appealing to have some new starting zones and new cooking and fishing dailies, a whole raft of new quests (though mainly for lower level characters so far) and new race-class combinations.

However, the almost complete removal of portals from Dalaran and Shattrath, particularly a couple of weeks before flying in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor and much of the new content can be activated, is less than exciting for higher level toons. It seems that Dalaran is destined to be the dead end ghost town that Shattrath has long become, peripheral capitals such as the Exodar, Darnassus and Silvermoon are likely to be even less inhabited and the new hubs Stormwind and Orgrimmar liable to become lagfests (Lagwind and Lagrimmar). Indeed, just getting around (despite the new flight paths and streamlined travel in some places) will be that more time consuming for all but mages especially in the time gap between the removal of the portals and the introduction of flight in Old Azeroth. Portals to Stormwind and Orgrimmar in Dalaran would at least ease some of the pain. Time will tell how the developer’s strategies – to make the old world cities more lived in (though Stormwind, Ironforge and Orgrimmar were always well inhabited in my experience), to encourage players to enjoy the new scenery and to reduce lag – will work out. And I for one will miss the synergy of having a sanctuary town, where horde and alliance somewhat uneasily rub shoulders, as a major hub.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to enjoy and plenty of new content to unpack in the short time left to launch date.

The scene is a mass of confusing images – elite wind elementals swirling to attack; players and NPCs almost piling on top of another in the effort to down the invaders; the rift flashing in hypnotic strobe-like fashion; arcane missiles, druidic lightning, hunters marks, pallie judgements superimposed on each other, fps rates plummeting as 80 or more players get caught up in the excitement of the moment. When the elemental invasion went live it was almost electrifying. Since then things have settled down a little. In Ironforge a glitch has meant that the rifts don’t materialise, the city is secured easily and quickly and portals are up in minutes or that the portals don’t open at all while in Stormwind or Thunderbluff it is not uncommon for numbers to be few and the defense to take more than the required hour. It is easy to be caught up in the excitement of the event though for some it is merely a tiresome interruption of normal game play. Love it or hate, the cataclysm launch event is here with a vengeance – offering new epic fights, new 78+ boss encounters with 251 gear drops, new achievement and new quests detailed as follows:

Finally, a few short weeks ago the launch date of the latest WOW expansion was announced (7th December) and over the last couple of weeks patch 4 has been implemented. In fact, in the last few days things have been heating up and changes are occuring in rapid pace. Cataclysm is upon us …

When I remember my initial enthusiasm on discovering the fascinating World of Warcraft, I find it hard to believe that until a few days ago – it has been weeks – even months – since I have spent any significant time amongst its cities, villages, wilderness, battle fields and dungeons. Indeed, both the Harvest festival (a rather nonevent admittedly), Brewfest and Hallows End have come and gone without the participation of even my lower level characters. I first seriously began playing WOW as Blizzard was gearing up for the release of Wrath of Lich King. I flung myself into the newly released achievements and thoroughly enjoyed Brewfest (my first taste of a seasonal event) and All Hallows End. Indeed, my hunter (mid40s in level) had only just started trick or treating at the inns of Azeroth – including braving the horrors of the Eastern Plaguelands when the teaser for the WoTLK launch, the Zombie plagues hit the capitals and towns.

At first mysterious green-hazed crates and cockroaches began appearing in well traveled streets. Then within in the normally safe haven of the auction house in Iron forge, I returned from AFK to find my hunter mysteriously inflicted with a strange illness. Stone form, rather than dealing with the disease or poison, instantly transformed her into one of the grungy, walking dead. After a few repeats of this distasteful experience, my hunter fled the more populous towns and lands to the deserted deserts of Desolace. Indeed, I was on the very cusp of giving up my WOW subscription. The game had ceased to be fun. Many of my guild mates shared my feelings though others participated in the event with great relish. Some were teenagers who brought up on B grade horror movies. But others were bored 70s who relished something new and different, a world event that added something new to the diet of daily quests, old dungeons and raids. Once Wrath was released, our normally helpful level 70 guild mates were preoccupied as they spent the next few months devouring the new quests and dungeons in the snowy wastes of Northrend in the race to reach 80. Now I understand their relish of something new, a world event – though I still hate Zombies.

Over the last few months there has been not much new in Azeroth. True, the battle of Gnomergan has possibilities (similar in ways to the epic retaking of Undercity event that follows on from the Wrathgate series). But the one time my priest joined the gnomes epic battle to retake their city it glitches out right at the finale – apparently a common bug if anyone (not even someone of in your party) enters the area while the event is in progress. But apart from that, I have now brought four characters to 80, have done most of the alliance quests and a good portion of the horde ones a number of times, many of the achievements (including Loremaster and Explorer), been through the dungeons countless times, leveled most of the professions and experienced all of the battlegrounds. The one thing I haven’t done countless times is raid – but an insolvable problem with ventriolo (the de rigour audio chat feed) has made that a moot point. Moreover, one by one my real life friends have fallen by the wayside. The last several months have been a long stretch waiting for significant new content … waiting for the forecasted cataclysm to shake things up in Azeroth.

And then, dare I confess it, I joined my sister into the new, different realm of social games on face book … Kingdoms of Camelot (KOC), Verdonia (strategy games modeled on Evony), even Frontierville, Farmville and Cafeworld. In doing so I have discovered a whole new world, a different set of alliances and friendships, different challenges and different content. My initial reaction (as I quickly ran out of energy clearing my small plot of land from trees, weeds, and debris) was that this is nothing like WOW. Certainly not designed for continuous play over long periods, these games do however grow in complexity and challenge as one’s avatar levels up and they build in the need to go back regularly to harvest ones crops, build walls and cities or save ones gourmet dishes from burning. And the best ones build in rewards and achievements, cooperation with friends, personal flair/style, the sense of building something and progression. But more than anything else, they are new, different … different skills, different challenges, and different worlds. And I am not the only stray from the WOW universe wandering these strange paths – if the names of cities and kingdoms in KOC and Verdonia and City of Wonder are anything to go by (among the Tolkien Gondor and Minas Tireth etc there is a Thrall of Ogrimmar for instance).

Nevertheless, my pulse did quicken just a little when I saw the preview box for Cataclysm in the shops. I have placed my preorder and am prepared to be engaged and captivated once again with the recent patch changes. I have begun negotiating the new talent system and intend to explore the newest profession (archaeology).

And now … Cataclysm Elemental Invasionis upon us with, new quests have appeared in the major Horde and Alliance cities centred on Orgrimmar and Thunderbuff (Horde) and Stormwind and Ironforge (Alliance). Twilight cult devotees have sprouted from nowhere proclaiming the end of the world, mysterious devices have appeared in the cities while tremors shake them, citizens are going missing, and the cult works hard to bring about the a cataclysmic destruction. Meanwhile, the majority of the good citizens of Stormwind or Orgrimmar laugh at the idea of the end of the world as indeed most of us would. The virtual world of Azeroth draws heavily from ancient philosophical and religious beliefs which often held to periodic cosmic catastrophes. In a world schooled in thinking of deep time and slow and steady world-transforming processes, it is perhaps sobering to realize that scientists are now acknowledging that cataclysmic events (supervolcanoes, meteor strikes, massive floods and tsunamis) have played a much greater part in earth history than they had admitted during the last 150-200 years.

Past events aside, over the last several hours phase 4 and the virtual battle to defend the cities and lands of Azeroth have begun in earnest – bringing with it an epic battle against the unleashed elements (roughly every 2-3 hours) which requires epic defense of from Azeroth’s heroes. Successful defense opens up portals to new boss encounters and rewards. Once again a world event has been unleashed on the unsuspecting citizens – and this wandering hero has returned just in time to be swept up in the excitement of the cataclysmic moment.

The two-headed ogre roared menacingly from the platform, short-sightedly unaware that his sycophantic audience was no more. My dwarf hunter and her faithful turtle Snowflake edged closer to the monster, getting ready to engage in combat. This is it … just one more quest to go …

The road towards Loremaster begins innocently enough in one of the eight (four horde, four alliance) starter villages – but there is no telling where it might finish. To my hunter it had begun in the snow blanketed hills of Dun Morgnh months before achievements such as Loremaster had been introduced. Since then Loremaster of Northrend, Loremaster of Kalimdor, Seeker (complete 3000 quests), Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms had all flashed up on the screen. All that remained were half the quests in Nagrand and all the Shadowmoon quests. What could be easier?

Then I got stuck at eight quests short in Nagrand. Falling short of the required number of quests had happened a few times before – in Borean Tundra, Zul Drak, Netherstorm, Blades Edge Mountains – but usually after a bit of research on the web, I’d found a new quest centre, quest drop or quest line that I’d missed. Netherstorm was the exception – I camped fruitlessly for weeks waiting for the Congealed Void Horror (the vial it drops starts The Horrors of Pollutionquest) to get my last quest for Into the Nether . Eventually, I gave up and managed to solo Deathblow to the Legion .

In Nagrand, the web did not (completely) fail me as I learned that a Nagrand quest line started in Shadowmoon Valley. So off I went to complete the Shadow of the Betrayer achievement in short time. There I found the Altruis questline leading back to Nagrand. I’d also saved the gnome (Kristen Dipswitch) that appears every other hour at the Nessingwary camp (opens up I’m Saved ) and looted the Murkblood Invasion Plans from the Murkblood Invaders (2 more quests). I’d previously stumbled on the Kurenai captive escort quest, the Consortium lead in quest, the 2 quests from the goblin Wazat and the Howling Wind drop quest. No other area seems to have as many elusive or isolated and difficult to find quests even for Horde (who have more quests here in Nagrand). At last, I only had one more quest hand in to complete the Nagrand Slam, Loremaster of Outlands and Loremaster.

So here I was, in the Shadow Labyrinths – facing Blackheart the Inciter and ready to wrest from his ham like fists the Fel Book of Names. As the Ogre fell and my hunter held the thick volume in her hands … nothing, no flash, no achievement. Well of course not, I still had to hand the book in to Altruis. My hunter threaded her way back through the dungeon and flew with speed to northwest Nagrand. I almost keyed in guild chat “wait for it” as I hand the book to Altrius. Nothing – nada – zilch – my counter is still stuck at 75/76. Apparently the hand-in counts towards Shadowmoon not Nagrand.

What have I missed? Once again I troll the web and reread the posts until at last a couple of posts jump out at me – the first hand in of the monthly consortium rep quest (friendly required) at Aeries Landing can count towards Loremaster. I’d done this particular quest on some of my toons, but had I done it on my hunter? Definitely worth a try – and sure enough, after a quick fly south to Aeries Landing to find the quest available … flash, flash, flash … Nagrand Slam, Loremaster of Outlands, Loremaster! The end of this particular long journey.

“/g woot” I type into the aether with a wide grin. My fellow guildies, preoccupied with other things, stay silent . When I had completed Shadow of the Betrayer, a guildie had commented “someone pursuing Loremaser”. “Yes,” I said, “Only 7 more quests to go.” “Oh, I’m concentrating on being the epic priest achievement,” says another. “And you are an epic priest,” another guildie replies. “I lost interest in pursuing Loremaster once I got Seeker,” another murmurs. The guild chat moves on. Well, that’s one of the things I love about WOW – it has so many different aspects to it. Some are interested in questing, some in achievements, some in the social aspects of the game, some in levelling professions, others in PvP, or raiding and usually some combination of these. At the end of the day I had another title, another tabard, vastly extended knowledge of the lore and history of the world of Azeroth, a quiet feeling of achievement and hours of fun questing with others or on my own. And the quests I enjoyed the most were the quests that told a story.

People give their time, energy and passion to all kinds of past times and pursuits – mastering chess, watching TV, social games on facebook, sewing intricate quilts, clubbing or boozing with friends. Is a consuming pursuit of fame, fortune, power, excitement or pleasure in the non-virtual world any more or less worthwhile? No doubt it is a matter of perspective, consequences and balance. As the loading screen tips intone: “Remember to take all things in moderation” adding somewhat tongue in cheek “even World of Warcraft!” and “Bring your friends to Azeroth, but don’t forget to go outside Azeroth with them as well.” http://www.wowwiki.com/Loading_screen_tips

It is easy for WOW to consume a lot of our time, energy and focus – even perhaps to forget that it is virtual reality, a game which while it is a lot of fun in the end gives largely ephemeral gains. My hunter may be able to juggle 40 burning torches with great ease but there is no way I’m going try that stunt in real life. It begs the question – what is real, what is eternal, what really matters? Sure, it’s okay to chill out and even better when we can do that with our friends. In the end, it is only when we know the answer to the question of what really matters that we can know what is the best investment of our time, talents, resources and passions.

Like the Explorer title, Loremaster requires patience, persistence and dedicated time but not necessarily the completion of some insanely difficult task (like in my humble opinion the pvp achievment Ironman for instance). Simply put, all that is required is completing the right number of quests in the different regions of Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, Northrend and Outlands. The main difficulty comes in finding the final few quests which are as often as not group quests or require dungeon forays or are hard to find.

Keep in mind that:

# not all quests count towards lore master – for instance dailies (though sometimes the first time does sometimes count), seasonal quests, PvP quests and some dungeon quests.

# Questlines may cross continents or regions and it is sometimes difficult to predict towards which region a particular quest will count [Edit: This is probably less likely in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor with the radical revamp of quests in these regions with the release of Cataclysm.];

# Once the majority of quests in a region has been completed quests are much more likely to be group quests or linked to an instance in the region. While the lower level group or dungeon related quests are easy to solo at 80, it becomes more of a challenge in Icecrown (depending on gear). However, my hunter was able to solo enough of the group quests in Icecrown to get the achievement.

# It is not uncommon to be appear to run out of quests while still short of the required number in many regions. All regions actually have more quests than required for the achievement though that margin is a lot smaller in some areas than others.

* Think about a quest center you may have missed as a region often has more than one (in Borean Tundra for instance there are at least 6 main quest centres so it is easy to miss one or more.)

* There is often one or two quest givers in isolated and/or hard to find areas. In some cases there will be lead in quest (eg a Diplomatic Mission in Borean Tundra) while in others are stand alone quests (eg two quests from Kim’jael in Ashzara ). In the later case you will may need to look over resource sites such as Game Pressure (which lists all the quests with the quest giver, location and whether quest giver is alliance, horde or neutral). Comments of other players on sites like thotbot, Wowiki and WOWhead can be very useful.

* Some quests only open after completing another quest line, finding a drop, doing a specific action (ie you can get the quest The horn of the Beast from a drop off Margol in Searing Gorge but speaking to Pebblebitty at the Searing Gorge gate will steer you towards this hard to find beast). In a number of cases, quests/quest lines only open up once you have gained a certain level of reputation with a faction (eg consortium rep or Aldor’s or Scyrer’s rep in the Outlands).

* Quest lines that start in another region may in fact count towards the zone in which you are missing quests (eg Altrius quest line but other quest lines that cross zones include ).

* Be as efficient as possible by picking up all the quests in at a particular quest hub so that you can complete 2-3 quests at the same time. Generally it makes sense to complete the quests in one area before moving on to the next hub.)

* As much as possible, complete all the prerequisite quests before completing a dungeon

* Don’t forget to have your “low level quest” finder on your mini-map when you are questing in low level regions.

* As with the Explorer achievment, you can combine Loremaster with other achievements – e.g. if you are doing the majority of the quests in an area why not completely explore it as well or finish off the dungeons in that area.

* It is not necessary to do absolutely every quest – there are more quests in each region than needed for the relevant title. This includes Loremaster of the Eastern Kingdoms and Loremaster of Kalimdor.

Don’t forget to have fun and remember that this is one achievement that takes time, plenty of it.